Orlando Magic at Cleveland Cavaliers, Game 5 (Magic lead 3-1)
One of the biggest playoffs upsets in recent NBA history that really isn’t much of an upset if you look at the recent history between the two teams can be completed tonight if the Orlando Magic can win in Cleveland for the second time in the Eastern Conference Finals.
By comparison, the Cavs lost just twice at home all season prior to this series. But the Cavs dropped a 1-point Game 1 to the Magic and then won Game 2 only because of a miracle LeBron James 3-pointer. That the Magic have covered in every game of this series doesn’t seem to matter to oddsmakers at WagerWeb.com, who list Cleveland as 7.5-point favorites for Game 4.
Clearly the Cavalier defense that led the NBA in scoring defense during the regular season can’t figure out how to guard all those Magic 3-point shooters. In the team’s first playoffs series against the Pistons, Cleveland allowed 78 ppg. In the second series against Atlanta, the Cavaliers allowed 78.3 ppg. So far against Orlando, that’s 104.3 ppg.
While it’s possible the Cavs can pull out tonight’s game at home, history for this series is not on their side. Since 1947, there have been 190 series where a team has led 3-1. Of those, 182 were won by the team with the lead.
Magic guard Mickael Pietrus, who has been the main defender on LeBron James, said his team realizes it can’t relax.
“We have a lot of confidence, but 3-1 doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “We just have to continue working hard to keep believing we’re still the underdog.”
The story has been the same throughout this series: LeBron gets his 42-or-so points and no one else on the Cavs steps up, especially the bench. In Game 4, the Magic bench again outscored Cleveland’s, this time 26-14.
Cavs coach Mike Brown is trying everything to get some bench help. Daniel Gibson got 21 minutes off the bench in Game 4 after playing only a combined 6:27 in the first three games of the series. He had eight points.
James has accounted for 41 percent of the Cavs’ points in the first four games compared to only 28 percent of the team’s scoring in the regular season.
The Magic also got a break during the travel day Wednesday, as the technical called on Dwight Howard for taunting in Game 4 was rescinded. That is big, because Howard would have been just one technical from an automatic one-game suspension.
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